Right and left of steroids debate

While the divisions weren't quite that clear cut, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, on Thursday said, "Of all the things to become partisan over, this was the wrong one."

Cummings was among those who questioned Clemens' credibility during Wednesday's 4 1/2-hour hearing held by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Former personal trainer Brian McNamee says he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone.

Most Republicans saved their searing comments for McNamee, who was repeatedly called a "drug dealer" by Rep. Christopher Shays of Connecticut and a liar by Rep. Dan Burton of Indiana.

"I thought the tone of the hearing was a little askew," said Rep. Diane Watson, D-Los Angeles.

Richard Emery, one of McNamee's lawyers, said that some Republicans treated his client harshly because of Clemens' friendship with President George W. Bush's father, former President George H.W. Bush. Emery, an attorney who has worked for liberal causes, predicted the pitcher will be pardoned should Clemens be indicted or convicted of anything related to the hearing.

Of course, that would demand that the wheels of justice spin rather quickly - in the next 11 months. Clemens' repeated denials under oath could lead to criminal charges if federal prosecutors conclude he made false statements or obstructed Congress.

"Richard Emery just has to quit smoking his own dope," said Rusty Hardin, a Clemens attorney. A White House spokesman pointed out that Clemens has not even been charged with a crime.

Emery praised Hardin and Lanny Breuer and said the prospect of a pardon was the only explanation that allowed the pitcher to repeat his denials under oath.

"It's the only reason lawyers worth their salt would allow their client to run into the buzz saw of Jeff Novitzky and the potential prosecution, tampering and lying to a federal official," Emery said, referring to the IRS agent involved with the BALCO case.

A spokesman for Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista (San Diego County), said the hearing's partisan tone evolved because Republicans felt that Democrats wrongly focused on Clemens instead of the broader concerns raised in the Mitchell Report on drugs in baseball.

"We're not supposed to have these kinds of spectacles," he said.

Coming clean: Dodgers catcher Gary Bennett, in Dodgers camp in Vero Beach, Fla., said he was willing to try just about anything to help heal his right knee when he used human growth hormone as a Padre during the 2003 season, and he did, even though he knew it was a wrong.

The 35-year-old Bennett, implicated in the Mitchell Report, said, "It got to a point where I was extremely frustrated, my knee was hurting. That led me to make a stupid decision."

"The biggest question I had was, 'Did it help me?' I have no idea. I have no way of knowing whether it did or didn't help. It still hurt after that. It got better as the season went along.

"Was what I did wrong? Absolutely. Do I regret it? Absolutely."

Bring on the testing: Three-time Cy Young Award winner Pedro Martinez, who says he feels proud for dominating in the steroids era without steroids, arrivedin the Mets' camp in Port St. Lucie, Fla. He said he would welcome a more stringent drug-testing program: "I wish that they would check every day. That's how bad I want the game to be clean. I would rather go home (than) taint the game."